The Sinestro Corps War has come to an end - and now DC is starting to tease this title’s involvement in the upcoming Final Crisis. Is there cause to be worried? The Green Lantern family of books has been the best that DC has had to offer, and a lot of that success had to do with the closed nature of the story. Very little of the “War” bled out into other books - it was exciting, and ultimately self contained. Readers who were just a little tired of endless crossovers really responded. And with this event over, this new arc promises to tie up loose ends from the War and set us up for Final Crisis.

Will exposure to yet another universe-spanning major event kill this title’s momentum? Time will tell of course, but until that time comes - this is still a title worth reading.

Of course, speaking of wrapping up the Sinestro Corps War, GREEN LANTERN SINESTRO CORPS SECRET FILES #1 is also out this week - a 64 Page ($4.99) issue featuring both Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps stories from the past, present, and future. Hopefully this will be a fitting coda to the event.

JSA CLASSIFIED #33, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Junior Thomas; Art by Staz Johnson & Rodney Ramos; Cover by Scott Kolins

Last issue was your annual JSA Thanksgiving story, this issue serves as the Christmas tale. Both were just a smidge late, but in this case it is doubtful that readers will actually care about a day or two. This issue features Alan Scott in a battle against Vandal Savage with “the life of a child in the balance.” Sounds like this might be a little too heavy to qualify as a “light holiday read,” but no one said Christmas stories had to be light.

This team did a decent job on the Thanksgiving issue - there is no reason to expect a dip in quality here.

MARVEL ILLUSTRATED PICTURE DORIAN GRAY #1 (OF 6), $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Oscar Wilde, Adapted by Roy Thomas, Art by Sebastian Fiumara

These Marvel Illustrated titles don’t tend to get a lot of attention, but they are usually of interest to people with a passing familiarity with the classics they are adapting. This is really the first story that might get a boost from the adaptation. Dorian Gray is such a visual tale, at least in the minds eye, that it is worth the cover price just to see how an artist might interpret the look of the painting throughout the course of the story. Roy Thomas providing the adapted script is a nice selling point, but even more important here will be Fiumara’s art. That will make or break this series.

NEW WARRIORS #7, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Kevin Grevious, Art by Jon Malin, Juan Vlasco, and Marte Gracia

Since the revelation that this team is made up of depowered mutants, some long-time New Warriors fans dropped this title in disgust. Writing as a New Warriors fan myself, I tend towards the opposite direction. It was pretty obvious from the start that this team wasn’t going to end up being the original team, and having it made up of actual establish characters makes the “tribute” all the more legitimate. Would you have cared as much if a random team of brand new characters started up this team? Doubtful.

On top of that, it finally picks up a story that has been woefully neglected since House of M - the depowered mutants. Sure, it is mentioned from time to time, and we certainly see them on occasion, but for the most part the mutants we see month in and month out are among the few to retain their abilities. What about those former X-Men who lost their powers? We have really needed to see more of them from moment one (and there should have been way more of them), and the fact that they finally have a stage is nothing but a good thing.

The end of the New Warriors isn’t something that is going to be reversed for a long time. No matter what you might think of the way they went out, it is totally unrealistic to think that Marvel is going to suddenly change their mind and bring back the team as it was. This title keeps their memory alive and introduces the team and its history to a whole new group of readers. In the long term, this is great for the property. In the short term, as long as the stories stay entertaining, I will be reading.

SPOTLIGHT PICK OF THE WEEK

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #37, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Jim Shooter; Art and covers by Francis Manapul and John Livesay

This is the first time in a long time that an issue of the Legion has been this notable. Granted there were notable title and format changes - the addition of Supergirl and a reboot or two, but since Waid took over, the title has remained extremely consistent. Bedard has been writing the title since June, but he has become the consummate transition writer and has managed to keep the title compelling for Waid fans and ease the blow for those long time fans dreading the creative shift.

On the other hand, despite Waid’s consistency his work on this title was not universally loved. Unlike a lot of highly acclaimed runs (Brubaker on Captain America, Johns on Flash, etc), Waid managed to turn some readers completely off. Nothing wrong with that - the best stories aren’t always universally loved, and that could have been the case with Waid. In any case, Jim Shooter taking over does give all of those readers who weren’t enthralled by Waid’s run to finally give this title another chance.

Waid fans have had several months to mourn the loss of that creative team, and should be ready by now to give Shooter, Manapul, and Livesay a chance. With that audience, and the potential influx of new readers from the “Waid refugees,” this should be a huge issue this week.

DARK HORSE

STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #24 $2.99 Now: $2.69

DC COMICS

52 AFTERMATH THE FOUR HORSEMEN #5 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.69
ACTION COMICS #860 $2.99 Now: $2.69
BATMAN #672 $2.99 Now: $2.69
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9 $2.99 Now: $2.69
COUNTDOWN ARENA #4 (OF 4) $3.99 Now: $3.49
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #5 (OF 8) $3.99 Now: $3.59
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 18 $2.99 Now: $2.69
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #3 (OF 5) $2.99 Now: $2.69
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #4 (OF 8) $3.50 Now: $2.99
FLASH #235 $2.99 Now: $2.69
GREEN LANTERN #26 $2.99 Now: $2.69
GREEN LANTERN SINESTRO CORPS SECRET FILES #1 $4.99 Now: $4.49
JSA CLASSIFIED #33 $2.99 Now: $2.79
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #37 $2.99 Now: $2.69
UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #4 (OF 8) $2.99 Now: $2.69

MARVEL COMICS

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #8 $2.99 Now: $2.69
BLACK PANTHER #33 $2.99 Now: $2.59
CAPTAIN AMERICA #33 $2.99 Now: $2.69
DAREDEVIL #103 $2.99 Now: $2.69
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #3 (OF 5) $2.99 Now: $2.69
IRON MAN #24 $2.99 Now: $2.69
MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #8 $2.99 Now: $2.59
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED PICTURE DORIAN GRAY #1 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT ONE MORE DAY BRAND NEW DAY $2.99 Now: $2.69
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #3 (OF 5) $2.99 Now: $2.69
RED PROPHET TALES OF ALVIN MAKER #11 (OF 12) $2.99 Now: $2.69
THOR #5 $2.99 Now: $2.69
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #49 $2.99 Now: $2.74
ULTIMATE POWER #9 (OF 9) $2.99 Now: $2.79
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #117 $2.99 Now: $2.69
UNCANNY X-MEN TP EXTREMISTS $13.99 Now: $10.99

THE SUPERMAN LAWSUIT

Unless you are serious about your comic news, you might not have heard of the impending cases in which Jerry Siegel’s heirs are disputing the ownership of Superman and Superboy.

It is a bit confusing, especially if you aren’t legal minded, but the facts behind this case make for some fascinating reading. It seems doubtful that DC would lose the rights to the character (a settlement of some kind seems likely, eventually - Superman is too valuable a character to give up), but it also begs the question - what happens when Superman eventually enters the public domain (if it does, you can expect another legal battle once Mickey Mouse inches closer to being handed over to the public domain again)?

The potential that DC’s claim on their #1 icon might be threatened is interesting enough. But with comics as an art form reaching a certain age, the prospect that no company could claim sole ownership of certain legendary characters could totally change the landscape of comics as we know it.

In any case - it is definitely worth doing a little digging into, especially if your interest in comics extends beyond simply reading good stories.

NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or it’s staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.

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